Life can change in an instant. For Monique Péan, it was the death of her sister Vanessa in a tragic car accident. “She was 16 and amazing and full of life, so intelligent,"Péan said. "I had to really take a moment to think about what had happened and how I wanted to lead the rest of my life. I asked, ‘What does it means to lead a successful life?’” At the time, Péan was working as an analyst at Goldman Sachs. “For me, I realized it’s not just about the money,” explained Péan, “It’s about how you lead your life every day, and when you go, were you able to make this world a better place?”

Péan left her job at Goldman Sachs to pursue her own jewelry line. She combined her passion for design, travel and philanthropy to establish Monique Péan, her eponymous fine jewelry line, in 2006 with a brand promise “to promote sustainability and social responsibility through wearable art.” Her sculptural, one-of-a-kind pieces made with unique materials such as fossilized dinosaur bone quickly took off, and in 2009 Péan was one of the recipients of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund award and received Tiffany & Co.’s former CEO Michael Kowalski as her mentor.